Podcast
Over a third of the world is actively playing games: Brad Manuel & Indy Khabra of Livewire
Livewire founders Brad Manuel & Indy Khabra join Give It A Nudge to talk about how they first connected to launch Livewire, their recent expansions, fundraising and plenty more.
About the guests
Brad Manuel
Co-Founder at Livewire
Brad Manuel is a co-founder of Livewire, a leading gaming marketing and gametech company that helps brands connect with the world’s largest and most engaged entertainment audience. Brad brings a marketing and commercial background to the business and has been central to Livewire’s rapid expansion across multiple markets.
Indy Khabra
Co-Founder at Livewire
Indy Khabra co-founded Livewire with Brad Manuel to build the leading gaming marketing platform in the Asia Pacific region. Indy’s background in media and technology has shaped Livewire’s product and partnership strategy, connecting mainstream brands with gaming audiences that most traditional marketing channels simply can’t reach.
Episode overview
Brad Manuel and Indy Khabra, co-founders of Livewire, join Steve Grace to talk about the gaming market opportunity that most brands are ignoring: over a third of the world’s population actively plays games, and they are one of the most engaged and underpenetrated audiences in mainstream advertising. Brad and Indy share how they connected to launch Livewire, the company’s rapid expansion, their fundraising story, and why gaming is the next major media channel for brand marketing.
The gaming opportunity
The headline statistic Brad opens with is striking: over a third of the world is actively playing games. The gaming audience is larger than social media in aggregate engagement time, younger than television, and has historically been ignored by mainstream advertisers who don’t understand the culture. Livewire exists to bridge that gap: connecting brands to gaming audiences through authentic, well-designed marketing that the gaming community doesn’t reject.
“Over a third of the world is actively playing games. This is not a niche. This is the world’s largest entertainment platform and most brands are nowhere near it.”
Brad Manuel 4:00
How Livewire works
Livewire operates at the intersection of gaming culture and brand marketing. The platform helps mainstream brands plan, execute, and measure campaigns that reach gaming audiences: through streamers, esports, in-game advertising, and gaming content creators. The key insight is that gaming communities are intensely loyal and deeply sceptical of inauthentic brand activity, which means the brands that succeed are the ones willing to engage genuinely with the culture rather than just buying placements.
“Gaming communities are highly attuned to inauthenticity. The brands that do this well are the ones who actually show up in the culture, not just in the media buy.”
Indy Khabra 18:00
Expansion and fundraising
Livewire has expanded beyond Australia into multiple markets and completed fundraising rounds to fuel that growth. Brad and Indy talk candidly about the fundraising process: what it took to get investors to understand the gaming market opportunity, the rounds they ran, and what the capital is being used for as they build out the team and the product internationally.
“The first challenge in fundraising was getting investors to understand how big the gaming market actually is. Once they saw the numbers, it changed the conversation completely.”
Brad Manuel 26:00
Key takeaways
Chapters
0:00Introducing Brad and Indy 4:00The gaming market and why it’s been ignored 10:00How they met and launched Livewire 18:00How Livewire works: gaming marketing in practice 24:00Authenticity in gaming culture 28:00Fundraising and investor education 32:00International expansion and what’s next for Livewire
Mentioned in this episode
Frequently asked questions
What does Livewire do?
Livewire is a gaming marketing and gametech company that helps mainstream brands connect with gaming audiences. The company plans, executes, and measures brand campaigns across gaming channels including streamers, esports events, in-game advertising, and gaming content creators.
How large is the gaming audience?
Over a third of the world’s population, more than 3 billion people, actively plays video games. In terms of aggregate engagement time, gaming competes with and in many demographics exceeds social media and television. The audience is diverse by age, gender, and geography, and is growing faster than any other entertainment category.
Why do most brands fail at gaming marketing?
Gaming communities have a very low tolerance for inauthentic brand activity. Brands that simply buy placements without understanding the culture are quickly identified and rejected. Successful gaming marketing requires genuine engagement with the community, an understanding of gaming culture, and creative that respects the audience’s intelligence.
How did Brad Manuel and Indy Khabra start Livewire?
Brad and Indy met and identified a shared conviction that the gaming market was massively underserved by traditional marketing and media companies. They launched Livewire to build the infrastructure and expertise that brands needed to engage with gaming audiences authentically and at scale.
What markets does Livewire operate in?
Livewire started in Australia and has expanded to multiple international markets. The business operates across the Asia Pacific region and beyond, building brand partnerships and gaming marketing campaigns in each market it enters.
Topics discussed
Full transcript
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Show full transcript (39 minutes, 4 sections)
0:00 Introduction
Brad Manuel and Indy Khabra, co-founders of Livewire, join Steve Grace to talk about gaming as the world’s largest underserved entertainment audience for brand marketing. Over a third of the world actively plays games. This is not a niche. This is the world’s largest entertainment platform and most brands are nowhere near it.
10:00 The founding story and Livewire’s model
Brad and Indy connected through a shared conviction that the gaming market was massively underserved. They launched Livewire to build the expertise and infrastructure that brands need to engage with gaming audiences authentically. Livewire helps brands plan, execute, and measure campaigns across streamers, esports, in-game advertising, and gaming content creators. The key is authenticity: gaming communities are highly attuned to brands that don’t understand the culture, and they reject those that don’t show up genuinely.
24:00 Fundraising and expansion
The first challenge in fundraising was getting investors to understand how big the gaming market actually is. Once they saw the numbers, it changed the conversation completely. We’ve completed funding rounds and are expanding across multiple markets. The capital is being deployed into team growth and product development to cement Livewire’s position as the leading gaming marketing company in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.
34:00 Advice and what’s next
For founders thinking about gaming: the opportunity is enormous and the competition from traditional media companies is still limited. The window to establish a strong position is open but it won’t stay open indefinitely. For Livewire, the focus is on building the team, deepening the product, and expanding into new markets while the gaming advertising industry is still being defined.
About the host
Steve Grace is the founder and CEO of The Nudge Group, a technology-focused recruitment and advisory business. He has built and scaled companies across Australia and the US, and hosts Give It A Nudge to spotlight founders and operators building something meaningful.
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